Tarvin portfolio Wanda Tarvin Dr. Sherry Foundations of College Writing Spring semester I have taken Foundations of Writing with Dr. Sherry. Throughout the semester in this class we learned a variety of things. Mainly focusing on three projects of our own choosing then combing all into a bigger picture of what it actually means to be educated. For my first project I began with the problem of Muslim women uncovering, I then transformed that to bring it to the attention of multiple audiences. Including students, parents and the head of organizations. Then to top off the semester I put together a summary of my experiences in the past, present and what I expect in the future in order to give my definition of what I thought it meant to be educated.
Goal A. Students will be able to compose for particular audiences and purposes.
In class I learned how to properly catch the attention of different audiences. So for this goal I have decided to share a brochure that I have made to catch the attention of parents who have children ready to attend college and a letter that I have written to the University in regards of starting up an organization for Muslims on campus. In order to complete both I used the information from the research I have done for a previous project in this course. In the previous project I interviewed Muslim women on campus to see how they feel about not having as many resources as they would like religious wise on campus. Then I conducted some research in order to see how many clubs/ organizations there are for people of the Christian faith vs people who believe in Islam. The brochure below was made for an audience of parents. I used this genre because parents are always interested in what a university has to offer them for their money. So I thought a brochure was an easy and interesting way to catch their attention. Plus I felt as though they would have been more likely to read it because it is formal and straight forward.
I have decided to use this specific genre because it allows me to properly display my information in an organized manner. Which then makes it more enjoyable for my audience. They can quickly point out some advantages by just opening up the brochure and seeing the opportunities their child will have attending Bloomsburg University.
I wrote my letter below with the same information I had gathered from my previous project. Only instead I wrote it to catch the attention of the person in charge of creating organizations. So I mentioned the amount of organizations for other religious groups on campus compared to only one for Muslims that isn't even active. So I asked for an organization for those who follow Islam and mentioned what we would be doing and the benefits of doing so.
I thought this would be an effective way to allow the reader to see my point of view because I used useful information that could possibly relate to them and hopefully encourage them to want to make a
change. I also didn’t exclude anyone. My intentions were that everyone could have this organization to come together as one. Similar to the campus Ministry. So I attempted to touch this reader’s heart by allowing them to understand what others of different religions might be feeling or going through.
These two projects that I have used satisfy the goal because I brought information that I used in that past to present them in two different genres that would work most appropriately for the audiences.
Goal B. Students are able to compose using language and conventions appropriate to genre.
For this goal, I will be using my College Life/ Community Life under Examination, power point (CLUE project) that I created on why Muslims choose to uncover. For this project, I researched and interpreted information through interviews and personal experiences. From those around campus. I also used the strategies we learned in class to organize my power point into different groups based on; problem, background, method, findings and conclusion. These were appropriate to use because it helps ensure that the reader is able to easily follow the main idea of my topic relating to the power point. It also helped me combine everything that was similar into smaller sections, which made it more organized.
Personally I think that using these strategies were very helpful. Mainly because using them helped me put everything into place in a more orderly fashion. I also was easily able to identify which areas needed to be expressed more. I will definitely keep this technique in mind for future references. I am sure it will be just as useful later on as it was when I was completing my project.
Goal C. Students will be able to read, select and use evidence critically to formulate and support arguments.
In order to meet this goal I will be using the research provided in my CLUE power point. In order to complete my power point I had to conduct research related to background information that I retrieved from other websites and Muslim students on campus. I also used quotes in order to successfully convey the message to my audience for example:
• Abdelnabi said, "The decision to remove their headscarf simply came down to a choice, as they grew older" (Abdelnabi, 2015)
• Safia said, "It’s painful to wear something on your head that in some way gives you a relationship with these criminals, with these terrorist." (Safia, 2010)
I used this quote in my background in order to explain why some of the women consider the choice to uncover. Some felt as though it just became their decision as they grew older. Then others felt as though it was something that linked them to something negative like terrorism. I also used personal experience and my peers as additional resources, and they spoke out and told me that they were excluded. For example, they said they were the ones that were different in a group of people because of their head scarfs. So in order to fit in they uncovered. This helped me to accomplish my research on why Muslims decide to uncover.
In my power point (CLUE project) I introduced what the reader needed to know first, inserted data or
examples then, interpreted the meaning of that data. We called this the 3 IN's in class. This was another strategy that was helping in ensuring that the audience was successfully understanding the information being provided. For example:
• As I interviewed the Muslim community on campus I seen a trend in most of them (1). When asked if they had a Quran and where did they keep it most said, they had one and that it was on a shelf. So that brought my question how often do they open it up to read it? Some said they would read it here and there. Then others stated that it pretty much just sits on their shelves and collects dust (2). Although they all said that when they were home they practiced Islam more. Which meant opening up the Quran and reading it more often (3).
1. Introduce
2. Insert
3. Interpret
I introduced my findings in the beginning. Then, I inserted the information received from my research I did on campus. So after, I explained the outcome of my research. This was essential to not only this project but to any. It is essential because you need to make sure that the reader can follow you into understanding why you chose what you chose. This technique also helps with ensuring that you are providing the proper information and not just throwing things together.
Goal D. Students will be able to interpret and compose in a variety of media and print/ non-print genres.
This goal is important because you need to know what type of genres to create so that you have a variety of ways to catch the attention of multiple audiences. Having taken this course I have learned to do so. I created power points, brochures, flyers, letters and a paper. In goal A I used my brochure and letter so below is my flyer.
The point that I am trying to make with this flyer is that we all need to come together and the perfect place to start is on campus. My goal for this flyer was to have students that believe or follow Islam to come out. Along with those of other religions so that we can make a plan to help everyone equally.
When creating this flyer I used a set of principles that we learned in class named "C.R.A.P". This stands for Contrast, Repetition, Alignment and Proximity. These are the four things that I used throughout each of my projects to make sure that they were effective. For example:
For my flyer, I used a bright purple with a black in order to create the proper contrast. Then I aligned my pictures together and put similar things in bold and repeated this throughout my flyer. These are the little details that make the entire picture. Using these principles will help you attract your audience and properly complete your specific genre. All you have to do is follow the principles and you should be good.
Goal E. Students will be able to discuss and apply appropriate writing processes both individually and in collaborative contexts.
This goal means that I and my peers will be able to explain our expectations on a sheet of paper and then bring it to the next class and accomplish those things we had set in place. Also there was a space to write down your plans of practices that might help you/ classmates attain those expectations. Lastly, there were different sections to help you organize your peers comments on the areas they thought might have needed to fix. Also a reflection and evaluation to make sure that what needed to be done got done and to see if you improved or learned from this in class peer review.
What I enjoyed most about this sheet was the fact that I got the opportunity to hear what my peers thought I should add or adjust. Which makes you really think and reflect on how you did with your project. This was set up to help us not criticize us and the feedback wasn't to discourage anyone it stood to encourage them to do better and improve their project.
The sheet above is something that we turned along with our projects once we were finished with them. This sheet is separated into columns. For each column we had a goal, we then had to write our partners example, then our own example of how we satisfied what was stated in that column in our project. We did this for each column and then at the end we gave ourselves a grade we felt we deserved.
I feel as though this was a great sheet because we could easily point out by the columns if there was something that we didn't satisfy. This way we would know to go back and fix that before handing it in. So the suggestions from our peers help encourage us to improve things. I mean after all they are going through the same thing so who better to get advice from besides the instructor.
Overall this class was one of my favorite classes because of Dr. Sherry's unique way of teaching. He had his own style and made class very interesting. He allowed us to write about things that we felt important and related directly to us. So that made writing and doing the projects easier because we weren't being forced to talk about a subject or issue we had no interest in. Even after this class I will still continuously use the special techniques he has taught me for future references.
Wanda Tarvin
Dr. Sherry
Foundations of College Writing
Spring semester I have taken Foundations of Writing with Dr. Sherry. Throughout the semester in this class we learned a variety of things. Mainly focusing on three projects of our own choosing then combing all into a bigger picture of what it actually means to be educated. For my first project I began with the problem of Muslim women uncovering, I then transformed that to bring it to the attention of multiple audiences. Including students, parents and the head of organizations. Then to top off the semester I put together a summary of my experiences in the past, present and what I expect in the future in order to give my definition of what I thought it meant to be educated.
Goal A. Students will be able to compose for particular audiences and purposes.
In class I learned how to properly catch the attention of different audiences. So for this goal I have decided to share a brochure that I have made to catch the attention of parents who have children ready to attend college and a letter that I have written to the University in regards of starting up an organization for Muslims on campus. In order to complete both I used the information from the research I have done for a previous project in this course. In the previous project I interviewed Muslim women on campus to see how they feel about not having as many resources as they would like religious wise on campus. Then I conducted some research in order to see how many clubs/ organizations there are for people of the Christian faith vs people who believe in Islam. The brochure below was made for an audience of parents. I used this genre because parents are always interested in what a university has to offer them for their money. So I thought a brochure was an easy and interesting way to catch their attention. Plus I felt as though they would have been more likely to read it because it is formal and straight forward.
My brochure:
I have decided to use this specific genre because it allows me to properly display my information in an organized manner. Which then makes it more enjoyable for my audience. They can quickly point out some advantages by just opening up the brochure and seeing the opportunities their child will have attending Bloomsburg University.
I wrote my letter below with the same information I had gathered from my previous project. Only instead I wrote it to catch the attention of the person in charge of creating organizations. So I mentioned the amount of organizations for other religious groups on campus compared to only one for Muslims that isn't even active. So I asked for an organization for those who follow Islam and mentioned what we would be doing and the benefits of doing so.
My letter:
I thought this would be an effective way to allow the reader to see my point of view because I used useful information that could possibly relate to them and hopefully encourage them to want to make a
change. I also didn’t exclude anyone. My intentions were that everyone could have this organization to come together as one. Similar to the campus Ministry. So I attempted to touch this reader’s heart by allowing them to understand what others of different religions might be feeling or going through.
These two projects that I have used satisfy the goal because I brought information that I used in that past to present them in two different genres that would work most appropriately for the audiences.
Goal B. Students are able to compose using language and conventions appropriate to genre.
For this goal, I will be using my College Life/ Community Life under Examination, power point (CLUE project) that I created on why Muslims choose to uncover. For this project, I researched and interpreted information through interviews and personal experiences. From those around campus. I also used the strategies we learned in class to organize my power point into different groups based on; problem, background, method, findings and conclusion. These were appropriate to use because it helps ensure that the reader is able to easily follow the main idea of my topic relating to the power point. It also helped me combine everything that was similar into smaller sections, which made it more organized.
My CLUE final:
Personally I think that using these strategies were very helpful. Mainly because using them helped me put everything into place in a more orderly fashion. I also was easily able to identify which areas needed to be expressed more. I will definitely keep this technique in mind for future references. I am sure it will be just as useful later on as it was when I was completing my project.
Goal C. Students will be able to read, select and use evidence critically to formulate and support arguments.
In order to meet this goal I will be using the research provided in my CLUE power point. In order to complete my power point I had to conduct research related to background information that I retrieved from other websites and Muslim students on campus. I also used quotes in order to successfully convey the message to my audience for example:
• Abdelnabi said, "The decision to remove their headscarf simply came down to a choice, as they grew older" (Abdelnabi, 2015)
• Safia said, "It’s painful to wear something on your head that in some way gives you a relationship with these criminals, with these terrorist." (Safia, 2010)
I used this quote in my background in order to explain why some of the women consider the choice to uncover. Some felt as though it just became their decision as they grew older. Then others felt as though it was something that linked them to something negative like terrorism. I also used personal experience and my peers as additional resources, and they spoke out and told me that they were excluded. For example, they said they were the ones that were different in a group of people because of their head scarfs. So in order to fit in they uncovered. This helped me to accomplish my research on why Muslims decide to uncover.
In my power point (CLUE project) I introduced what the reader needed to know first, inserted data or
examples then, interpreted the meaning of that data. We called this the 3 IN's in class. This was another strategy that was helping in ensuring that the audience was successfully understanding the information being provided. For example:
• As I interviewed the Muslim community on campus I seen a trend in most of them (1). When asked if they had a Quran and where did they keep it most said, they had one and that it was on a shelf. So that brought my question how often do they open it up to read it? Some said they would read it here and there. Then others stated that it pretty much just sits on their shelves and collects dust (2). Although they all said that when they were home they practiced Islam more. Which meant opening up the Quran and reading it more often (3).
1. Introduce
2. Insert
3. Interpret
I introduced my findings in the beginning. Then, I inserted the information received from my research I did on campus. So after, I explained the outcome of my research. This was essential to not only this project but to any. It is essential because you need to make sure that the reader can follow you into understanding why you chose what you chose. This technique also helps with ensuring that you are providing the proper information and not just throwing things together.
My CLUE project paper:
Goal D. Students will be able to interpret and compose in a variety of media and print/ non-print genres.
This goal is important because you need to know what type of genres to create so that you have a variety of ways to catch the attention of multiple audiences. Having taken this course I have learned to do so. I created power points, brochures, flyers, letters and a paper. In goal A I used my brochure and letter so below is my flyer.
My flyer:
The point that I am trying to make with this flyer is that we all need to come together and the perfect place to start is on campus. My goal for this flyer was to have students that believe or follow Islam to come out. Along with those of other religions so that we can make a plan to help everyone equally.
When creating this flyer I used a set of principles that we learned in class named "C.R.A.P". This stands for Contrast, Repetition, Alignment and Proximity. These are the four things that I used throughout each of my projects to make sure that they were effective. For example:
For my flyer, I used a bright purple with a black in order to create the proper contrast. Then I aligned my pictures together and put similar things in bold and repeated this throughout my flyer. These are the little details that make the entire picture. Using these principles will help you attract your audience and properly complete your specific genre. All you have to do is follow the principles and you should be good.
Goal E. Students will be able to discuss and apply appropriate writing processes both individually and in collaborative contexts.
This goal means that I and my peers will be able to explain our expectations on a sheet of paper and then bring it to the next class and accomplish those things we had set in place. Also there was a space to write down your plans of practices that might help you/ classmates attain those expectations. Lastly, there were different sections to help you organize your peers comments on the areas they thought might have needed to fix. Also a reflection and evaluation to make sure that what needed to be done got done and to see if you improved or learned from this in class peer review.
My peer revision sheet:
What I enjoyed most about this sheet was the fact that I got the opportunity to hear what my peers thought I should add or adjust. Which makes you really think and reflect on how you did with your project. This was set up to help us not criticize us and the feedback wasn't to discourage anyone it stood to encourage them to do better and improve their project.
My revision sheet:
The sheet above is something that we turned along with our projects once we were finished with them. This sheet is separated into columns. For each column we had a goal, we then had to write our partners example, then our own example of how we satisfied what was stated in that column in our project. We did this for each column and then at the end we gave ourselves a grade we felt we deserved.
I feel as though this was a great sheet because we could easily point out by the columns if there was something that we didn't satisfy. This way we would know to go back and fix that before handing it in. So the suggestions from our peers help encourage us to improve things. I mean after all they are going through the same thing so who better to get advice from besides the instructor.
Overall this class was one of my favorite classes because of Dr. Sherry's unique way of teaching. He had his own style and made class very interesting. He allowed us to write about things that we felt important and related directly to us. So that made writing and doing the projects easier because we weren't being forced to talk about a subject or issue we had no interest in. Even after this class I will still continuously use the special techniques he has taught me for future references.